Many types of power operated circular hand-held saws are available. These saws are hand-held and manually moveable and have a circular saw blade which is rotated to cut a desired substrate. Typically, the saw has a housing that supports a motor which drives the circular saw blade. The motor, housing and blade assembly are typically mounted on a work supporting shoe which is rested on the substrate to be cut by the saw.
Typically, the work supporting shoe has a longitudinal slot therein and the circular blade is adjustable relative to the longitudinal slot through an entire range of adjustments. The depth of the cut produced by the saw blade is determined by the depth to which the circular blade extends through the longitudinal slot in the working shoe. Various means of adjusting the depth to which the saw blade extends through the working shoe have been provided. These means of blade depth adjustment typically require fixing the blade depth prior to turning on the saw and making the cut. Thus, the workshoe can not be placed flush on the work because the blade extends from the bottom of the shoe.
Typically, to make a cut in a work, such as a piece of wood, a line is drawn on the work to mark the location of the desired cut. The circular saw blade is then adjusted and fixed so that the blade extends below the working shoe to the depth which affects the desired depth of cut. The power is then turned on and the blade is rotated at a high speed by actuating a switch in the saw housing. The cut in the work is then made by plunging the rotating blade into the line drawn on the work until the shoe contacts the work. The depth of the cut is limited by the flush contact of the shoe with the work.
Plunging a saw blade which is rotating at a high speed is often a difficult and inaccurate task. Also, the saw can jump or veer when the rotating blade is plunged into the work thereby risking damage to the workpiece and a cut in the wrong place.
Consequently, it has heretofore been difficult to make a cut of a desired depth at the desired location in the work with a power saw. A need, therefore, exists for an improved circular saw which provides means for limiting the depth of cut without pre-positioning the blade below the work shoe.